Harmful Secrets
by VeneficaMelody
Summary: Set after PGSM. Usagi and Mamoru are married, when a young girl shows up on their doorstep. Mamoru's daughter; but not Usagi's.
1. Default Chapter

Author's Notes: This is mostly based after the live-action version of 'Sailor Moon' ended, but there are also some elements of the anime included.

Cleaning the Western-style room, Usagi felt the sweat running down the back of her neck. Ever since her husband's career as a surgeon had taken off, she had been kept busy with the housework. Mamoru didn't come home before ten most nights, so she wasn't expected to have his dinner waiting for him. That was a good thing, of course, because Usagi had never been a very good cook to begin with. When she needed a dinner for her husband, she was thankful that her mother, just a few blocks away, was thoughtful enough to cook enough food for both households.

The Japanese-style meals that Ikuko prepared were always pleasing to Mamoru, but sometime he half-complained that his wife didn't know how to cook. "How can you always depend on your mother for our meals?" he would say, not wanting to upset his sensitive wife.

When they had first gotten married, Usagi was still untried in the arts of being a housewife, but she asked her mother for help, and realized that cleaning wasn't as hard or as useless as she had previously made it out to be. Instead of sitting idly while her husband was at work, Usagi found a small measure of productivity in keeping her two-story house clean and tidy.

Just a few blocks away from the house Usagi had grown up in, the house was the epitome of modern comfort. A few Western-style rooms, intermingled with the traditional Japanese-style rooms with the _tatami_ mats even a Western-style toilet, which was exorbitantly expensive.

Mamoru had attempted to give his wife every comfort that he could, but sometimes the modern conveniences couldn't bring her the joy her husband expected. Although not many would believe it, Usagi had grown up from her teenage days, when she had done little more than whine or eat. Now, she felt useless not being able to truly provide for her husband.

Cleaning was only one thing that she could do as a wife; the cooking had never been very easy for her, even with lessons from Makoto. As Chiba Mamoru's wife, Usagi had found contentment in her life, except that she wished she could do more for her hard-working husband. It wasn't enough that she had once been Japan's most famous super heroine, saving the world from the clutches of a dark evil; all of that was in the past and now she was an adult.

Switching off the vacuum cleaner, Usagi tilted her head to the right. Yes, she had heard the door open. "Husband, is that you?" she called out, listening for sounds of movement downstairs. Even after three years of marriage, Usagi still loved to refer to Mamoru as 'husband' because it reminded her of their special relationship.

"Yes, dear," came the response as she heard the man shuffling toward the room she was cleaning. "I know I'm early."

Usagi smiled in welcome as he entered the room. "I have no food prepared yet!" she cried, horrified that her husband had returned and she hadn't yet prepared even the simplest meal. "Would you like some rice and tea until I can ask Mama for the extras from her meal?"

Nodding slowly, Mamoru looked at his wife. She didn't even have the basic skills of a Japanese wife of _any _wife but that wasn't why he had married her. "Ikuko won't be pleased at this late hour, Usagi. Why not just relax, stop worrying, and I'll prepare something?"

The girl worried at her lip. "But, Mamo-chan… I feel so useless to you if I can't provide a meal, even if it wasn't prepared by my hands! What sort of wife am I if my husband must cook for himself after a hard day at work? I feel so useless!"

"You are not useless, Usagi," he said as he took her hands in his. "I know that you aren't a good cook; I didn't marry you for the food. I'll make dinner tonight, and you finish with your housework. I'm sorry to have surprised you so early; I didn't know that my supervisor was giving me the night off."

The girl nodded, eyes downcast. At least she could prepare rice as a snack for her husband; it was better than nothing. She had tried, over and over, to learn how to cook, but it had always turned out wrong. She felt useless, depending on her mother or restaurants for meals, and now she had to make her husband cook!

"I cannot even cook for my husband!" she moaned after her husband went back downstairs, covering her face with her hands in misery. Someday, maybe even Mamoru would leave her because of uselessness in the kitchen. Being skillful at housework, even in bed, wouldn't keep her man satisfied if she couldn't even prepare the simplest meal. What difficulty was it to cook fish, soup, an egg? A difficulty that was far over Usagi's head, unfortunately.

Pushing aside her negative feelings, Usagi threw herself back into cleaning. The sounds of cooking came from the kitchen; sounds that usually didn't permeate the Chiba household unless Usagi's mother came for a visit. Cooking had never been an issue after Mamoru had realized that Usagi didn't have the skills, (reasons unknown) and that he didn't have to eat her attempts because he was mostly at the hospital ER.

Working at the hospital, Mamoru dealt with many different patients and colleagues; a very stressful job. Usagi despised herself, in the sense that she couldn't take away the simplest worry such as dinner from her husband's mind. He finally got an evening off, and his wife wasn't even able to rush to the kitchen to prepare his dinner!

Putting away her cleaning supplies, she entered the kitchen on silent feet. Seeing her husband preparing something in a pot over the hot stove, she was hit by a sense of guilt. Glancing over, he saw his wife standing in the doorway. "It'll be just a moment before the dinner's ready, Usagi. There wasn't much to work with; just what your mother left here last week, so I hope left-over crab and miso soup is okay. I even found some seaweed; it'll go good with the portion of fish I found in the freezer."

Stunned, ashamed, Usagi stopped in the process of filling two bowls with rice. Looking at her husband, seeing the unperturbed look on his face, Usagi felt as if her world were caving in. It had been three years that he had gone about his life, not seeming to care that his wife couldn't even take care of him as she should. And even on this, an evening he was surely exhausted from work, Mamoru went to the task of making a dinner out of left-overs he had scrounged out, but which would taste delicious.

How could a marriage last if a wife couldn't cook for her husband? Mamoru had put up with it for three years, but it felt to her that it was almost the breaking point. How many nights, how many holidays, could he let pass by without complaining that the food was prepared by his mother-in-law instead of his wife?

Pressing her lips together to hold back a sob, Usagi turned away from her husband and set the rice bowls down on the table, idly rearranging the chopsticks as she attempted to bring herself under control. Her husband had given her such a good life, an expensive life, and all the love she could ask for, and she couldn't even give him half of that.

"Worthless!" she berated herself, hearing her husband moving food from pan to plate.

As her husband moved into the room, carrying two steaming plates, she jumped to her feet from the kneeling position she'd adopted next to the table. "Oh!" she cried, quickly reaching for one of the plates. "Mamoru, I would have gotten it myself! I-I could have even brought the dinner to you, even if I can't cook it!"

He smiled at her, reaching out to ruffle her hair, almost in the gesture of a father to a child. "Don't worry about it. When else can I bring my wife a meal?"

Although Mamoru pushed it aside, Usagi felt guilty about it all. She had no place being anyone's wife if she couldn't help him. Looking at her husband, eating his meal as if he didn't have a care, as if he wasn't exhausted from work and doubly so from preparing the meal for himself and his wife, Usagi hastily wiped at a tear that threatened to fall. She didn't deserve such a sweet man; she didn't.

&&&&

A month had passed, and life had fallen back into its' normal routine. It was Sunday, a day of rest, but Mamoru was still at the hospital. It was the one day that Usagi didn't bother with cleaning the house; there were only so many times she could polish the furniture before getting bored of it. Peering into the mirror over the sink, Usagi smoothed the skin of her face, checking for rough spots. She was still too young to be worrying about wrinkles, but not old enough to be completely free of pimples, and she didn't want to show off a displeasing face to her husband.

Hearing a scratching noise, she glance behind her to see the ebony cat leaping out of the odorless litterbox located in the corner of the bathroom. As the cat padded out of the bathroom, Usagi smiled wistfully. The cat reminded her of Luna, who had once been her guardian and fellow Sailor Senshi. After Usagi's marriage, Luna had remained permanently in her human form, staying in the Tsukino household. Usagi had gotten a small kitten, black just like her guardian, for a companion while her husband was away.

Turning on the water, Usagi washed her hands before drying them and leaving the bathroom, careful to leave the door ajar for the cat. The feelings of guilt hadn't fled, so she had gone to the market to purchase foods to prepare for her husband. She would start with the instant food, and progress from there. Seeing the exhaustion on her husband's face that he tried to hide had hit her deeply, and she didn't want him to have to cook for her again after a day of work.

Just as she stepped into the kitchen, Usagi heard a knock at the door. Turning and retracing her steps, she opened the front door. "Yes?" Peering out at the doorstep, she saw an older woman and a young girl, perhaps seven years old, standing before her.

Both of the guests bowed deeply, and Usagi reciprocated. "We are looking for the residence of Chiba Mamoru," the older woman said. "I trust we've found the correct house."

Nodding, Usagi smiled politely. "Yes, ma'am, this is indeed the Chiba residence. What can I do for you?"

The woman nodded, pleased that she had found the right place. "I am Mori Akiko; head of the Tokyo branch of child services. Is your boss at home? I'd like to speak to him."

As the words sunk in, Usagi shook her head in confusion. "My boss? I'm afraid there's been a mistake. Mamoru is my husband."

Akiko's eyes widened. "Oh! I-I'm sorry, Chiba-san; I wasn't aware that Mamoru had remarried." The woman glanced around nervously, taking in the doorstep of the Chiba house with a few quick glances. "Might we speak inside, please? This is a delicate subject, and small Sierra is tired, I believe."

Usagi's eyes lowered to the child. "This is Sierra?"

"Oh, yes!" Akiko chirped. "She's quite a little darling, in fact. But it's been quite a journey, and I think she'd feel better if she could sit down."

"Of course!" Ushering the couple into the house, Usagi directed them to the Western-style couch where they thankfully sank into the soft cushions. She offered them a drink, or a snack, but they refused politely. Folding her hands in her lap, Usagi waited for her guest to bring up the subject of her visit.

Akiko smiled at Usagi after making sure that the girl was comfortable. "Miss, I'm sure that this will be a great inconvenience for you, but I'm afraid that it's necessary. Little Sierra has nowhere else to go, and although she isn't familiar at all with Japan or our ways, I'm sure she'll find a way to fit in."

Usagi shook her head. "I'm sorry, Mori-san, but what are you talking about? Why would you bring this child to my home? I haven't applied for adoption, and neither my husband or myself have even hinted about children." She paused. "You say this child isn't familiar with Japan?"

The woman shrugged. "She was born in America; she is half white, half Japanese." She passed quizzical eyes over Usagi. "You didn't know that she was coming? I was sure that the American child services called! Oh, dear, how embarrassing! How could they have overlooked such a thing as not informing you?"

"Mori-san, with all due respect," Usagi said slowly, "there is no reason for a child to be entering our household. Why have you brought her here? Is there some sort of mix-up with paperwork; did you mean a different Chiba Mamoru?"

"No, no , I'm certain I have the correct house. Your husband was in America about eight years ago, wasn't he? School, I believe it was."

"But what does that have to do with this child?"

"Why, she's Mamoru's daughter!"


	2. Winds of Change

_Mamoru's daughter_… The phrase kept spinning through Usagi's mind, long after the woman from child services had left. The little girl, Sierra, looked around the house warily, mistrusting of the woman whose care she'd suddenly been dumped into. Mori had said that she spoke only a little Japanese, and was fluent in English. Usagi knew that her husband, who had lived in America during school, knew a passable English, but Usagi herself could barely string two words together coherently.

"How do I communicate with this girl?" she muttered, gritting her teeth as she prepared a meal of instant noodles for herself and the child. Mori had stated that the girl was most likely hungry and would enjoy a snack before dinner, so Usagi turned her hand to the best thing she was able to cook.

Spooning the noodles into two separate bowls, Usagi drew two cans of soda from the refrigerator before placing everything on a tray and carrying it into the dining room. "I have food!" she called in halting English, taking the objects off the tray and onto the table. Kneeling down at the low Japanese-style table, she smiled at the little girl as she inched inside the room, looking around in fear at the room that was most likely unfamiliar to her.

"It okay," Usagi said carefully, irritated with herself that she didn't even know how to speak properly with this small girl.

Nearing the table, the girl sat down awkwardly, looking at the food in front of her. Instantly recognizing the soda, she grabbed it and opened the can, taking a long drink while looking at Usagi over the rim of the can. After setting the soda down, Sierra screwed up her face as she picked up the chopsticks clumsily.

Lowering her eyes so that she wouldn't embarrass the girl by watching her clumsy attempts, Usagi ate her own meal, slurping at the noodles noisily. Her mind was spinning, as it had been ever since the woman had revealed that this was Mamoru's daughter. She could barely imagine the secrets her husband had been keeping from her.

Why hadn't he ever said that he had a daughter? Especially a daughter that was half-white and living in America! Or maybe that was why he hadn't; he had thought that Sierra would never enter his life in Japan. Sighing, she looked as the girl gave up trying to use the chopsticks, instead burying her face into the bowl and grabbing up the noodles with her teeth.

If Sierra remained long in their household, Usagi realized, they would either have to find a way to teach her to use chopsticks successfully or buy American silverware. Looking down at her bowl, Usagi rubbed at her forehead in irritation. How had she come into such a situation?

The phone rang, she pushed herself to her feet to answer it. Hearing her husband's familiar voice, she felt a sense of relief until she remember the day's events and stiffened. "Are you coming home soon?" she said coldly. "We must talk."

"Usako, what's wrong?" Concern instantly flooded her husband's voice.

Usagi did not answer, only saying that she would wait up for him if he was late before hanging up the phone. One hand on the phone, Usagi glanced over at the girl who was finishing her soda, then picked the phone back up, beginning to dial her mother's number. Pausing, she shook her head and replaced the reciever, knowing that it would be disrespectful to involve her mother in her problems.

Smiling at Sierra, Usagi took her by the shoulder gently, leading her into the living room, where she could watch tv. Handing her the remote, Usagi toyed with the idea of using her halting English to tell Sierra she was going upstairs to prepare a room for her, but decided to just leave the girl to her own devices.

Headed upstairs, Usagi decided to prepare one of the Western-style rooms for the girls' nightly stay with them. She didn't want to feel responsible for the girl, but she had been dumped on Usagi's doorstep, and until Mamoru arrived home to take responsibility, it was up to Usagi to help the girl feel comfortable in a foreign world.

&&&&

Lying on her futon, propped up while reading a magazine, Usagi heard her husband enter the house, quietly making his way upstairs. The door slid open and Mamoru entered the room on silent feet, looking slightly surprised to see his wife still awake. "Usagi. I thought you'd be asleep by now," he said haltingly.

"We have to talk," she said as she laid aside the magazine, getting to her feet and walking toward the window. Usagi couldn't bear to look at her husband's face as she slowly told him about the visit she had received, and the small visitor that was even now sleeping in their guest room.

Mamoru stared at his wife's back in shock for a few moments. "A baby from America?" he choked out.

"Not a baby; a little girl," Usagi corrected him, turning slowly to face him. "So you admit that it's possible that this girl is yours?"

"Usagi," he began slowly, "I never said that I didn't sleep with anyone before you. It was great for me that you were a virgin before me, but I never said that I was. It's not my fault if you got some sort of silly idea. It's _possible_ that I have a child from America, but I never meant for you to find out."

If it had been a few years ago, Usagi would have burst out in tears and clung to her husband, crying out for validation that she meant more to him than this keeping of secrets. Taking a breath, she shook her head. She wouldn't scream at her husband, ranting that it was unfair the way she knew some wives would.

Sierra had come into their lives for better or worse, and as the child's biological father, it was Mamoru's responsibility to raise her. Although with him being away all day at work, that duty would fall to Usagi, who could barely communicate with the girl. "You have to help her; talk to her," she said stiffly as she headed back to bed. "After all, you know I can't speak English, and that girl doesn't known Japanese."

"Usagi, I'm sorry," he said quietly, but his wife had already turned away from him.

&&&&

The morning brought with it a shrill scream that echoed in Mamoru's ears as he raced to the guest bedroom, barely noticing that his wife's futon was put away. Bursting into the guest room, Mamoru saw a little girl huddled in the corner, clutching a corner of the blanket, while Usagi tugged at the other end, an exasperated look on her face.

"Usagi, what's going on?" he demanded to know.

Looking at him, Usagi promptly dropped her end of the blanket and gestured at the child. "She won't let me put away the futon. And it took forever to get her to sleep on it last night!"

"She's from America," Mamoru said slowly. "She's used to a Western-style bed, and everything that comes from that lifestyle. Give her some time, Usako; she's just a kid, it isn't her fault."

Shaking her head as her husband began to speak in quick English to the girl, Usagi left the room without a backward glance to get breakfast started. If her husband wanted to dote on the girl, then so be it, but Usagi wouldn't be expected to give her any special treatment just because she wasn't used to Japan.

Usagi wouldn't hate the girl's mother just because she had a part of Mamoru's life that she didn't yet, and Usagi wouldn't hate Sierra because of her connection to a part of Mamoru's past that Usagi herself didn't have. Sitting at the table, breakfast served, Usagi waited for the others, her eyes locked on the table. She wouldn't show any weakness in front of her husband's daughter, because she knew that children didn't easily accept other adults in their parents lives.

Could Mamoru really be considered her parent, since he'd never been there for any part of her life? Hearing her husband's footsteps coming down the stairs, Usagi said nothing as the other two occupants of the house joined her at the table, quietly beginning to eat.

"Usagi, try to be patient. You don't understand each other's language; it will take time," was the last thing Mamoru said before he left for the day.

Looking at the girl who still sat quietly at the table, Usagi felt a sense of hopelessness. Crying wouldn't solve anything, Usagi knew, and there were things she had to do for her Monday. Taking up the phone, Usagi debated silently who to call. The other girls were surely busy with their own lives, and Usagi wasn't even sure if her mother knew any English.

As a housewife, Ikuko would be at home just down the block, but perhaps… _Luna_! Usagi realized. Surely Luna would be able to speak English; at least through some of her magic. Contacting the cat-turned-girl, Usagi explained the situation carefully to her former guardian, relieved to hear that she could speak passable English.

"Remember, Usagi," the girl said as she entered the house, "I can't just grab this girl's trust; she's frightened in this new land. Besides, I can't be here all the time when you two need a translator. She'll have to learn Japanese."

Usagi grimaced at the prospect of having to take the girl to Japanese classes, but she knew that Luna was right. If Sierra was going to live in the Chiba household, she would have to be able to communicate with both of the adults.

Luna knelt down in front of the girl, smiling kindly. "Hi! I'm Luna. I hear that you'll be staying with Usagi and Mamoru for a while."

The girl looked at her warily. "Usagi? Mamoru?" she said carefully, rolling the foreign names around on her tongue.

Carefully, doing her best not to frighten the young girl, Luna explained that Mamoru was her father, and that made Usagi her step-mother. 'Father' was a foreign concept to Sierra, who had always been told that her father was dead. To suddenly be living with him and his wife, in a land that didn't even speak her language would frighten the girl badly.

"I've taught her a few basic words in Japanese; greetings and how to say she's hungry or thirsty," Luna said a few hours later, "but she's very against getting in touch with any part of her Japanese heritage. To this girl, her father should be dead, and she should be living in America. It's not going to be easy, getting her to like her new circumstances."

Usagi looked up from the kitchen counter she'd been wiping off, frowning. "She doesn't have to like it; she just has to accept it," she finally said. "I don't like it any better than she does, but Mamoru is the one who put us in this situation."

Luna looked at her friend, seeing the hurt in Usagi's eyes. "You aren't going to blame Mamoru and put your marriage on the rocks because of this child, are you? Everyone makes mistakes in their past…"

Usagi's eyes blazed with blue fire as she snapped her head around to regard her friend with a stern look. "He could have at least mentioned that he had a wife and child before he met me! Am I just supposed to forget that he had a whole other life in America, just because he's decided to ignore it? I can't forget, because that little girl will always be staring me in the face!"

"Usagi," Luna said softly, "please don't blame that girl for Mamoru not telling you about her. She can't help what her father does." Seeing Usagi's continued look of defiance, Luna added: "You can't blame this child for your husband not being the man you thought he was."

Usagi lowered her head, closing her eyes. "I know, Luna, it's just… I never expected anything like this; really!"

"Of course you didn't. Men are biologically drawn to plant their seed, but birth control methods are so much more advanced in these years. And after all this time, it seems very irresponsible of Mamoru that his child should suddenly appear on your doorstep."

The woman heard her guardian's words, but she didn't want to believe that the man she'd married, the man she loved, could so carelessly throw away a child and wife just because he left America. "Was he drawn to Japan because of me, our destiny? Is this what caused him to leave a woman and a child in that foreign land?"

"I cannot answer those questions," Luna said with a touch of regret. "Why don't you take a relaxing bath; try to forget about all this. It will calm you. Maybe even a hot cup of tea. I'll make it for you. What do you say? Let me worry about Sierra for a little while; just take care of yourself. It's too much stress on you."

Letting the girl goad her into doing as she instructed, Usagi wondered at the fact that such a young-looking girl was taking care of her as if she were her mother.

&&&&

After the fact, Usagi had to admit that Luna's words had been correct: the bath had soothed her jagged nerves, and the tea had warmed her from the inside out. All in all, she felt a lot better than she had before Luna's kindly and wise intervention. Wearing a soft, off-white robe, light blue slippers, and her damp hair wrapped in a towel, Usagi padded into the living room.

Searching the room for her guests, Usagi breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Sierra and Luna watching television. "Having any luck?" the woman asked, drawing the half-cat's gaze.

"Oh, here you are!" she chirped. "Sierra and I have been watching the latest comedy; I'm translating for her." A pause. "How are you holding up, Usagi? I know it's got to be hard on you, but… Can't you at least give Mamoru a chance to explain properly?"

"We haven't talked really since she arrived," Usagi admitted as she took a seat in a Western-style recliner. "And I can understand the girl's fear, I just… don't want to face the idea that Mamoru hasn't been truthful, that's all."

"There are always lies in life, but you have to learn to accept the hand that Fate gives to you."

"I can't just accept that Mamoru has lied to me. Why would he do that? Am I unworthy of this man's complete love? He should have told me about the wife in America!"

"Things can't always be explained…" Luna said hesitantly. "Besides, maybe Mamoru thought it was best if you weren't worried about his past relationships. What if he didn't know about the girl? It's a reasonable doubt, after all."

"What do we know about his time in America?" Usagi grumbled, looking at the girl with unfeeling eyes. "There's a whole new side to my husband's life that is just now being revealed to me. What good am I if I can't take care of his daughter? This product of his seed… It's something I've never gained from my husband."

Usagi set her jaw defiantly, facing her guardian with a set expression. "I am a soldier of the White Moon; I fought for our freedoms even though I was the one who destroyed everything. So I will not let something as silly as this interrupt my life. I will be a good wife to Mamoru and, if forced, I'll even take this child under my wing to care for her. But I will _never_," she stressed, "love my husband again or care for this product of his infidelity. We were promised to each other centuries ago, and he forgot that promise, consorting with another woman and leaving behind such undeniable proof. That kills my ageless love for him."

As Usagi's speech wound down, Luna stared at her in disbelief. Had Usagi truly snapped; pushed so far by this unexpected development that she'd forsaken her husband and their life together?

"Usagi…" she said slowly. "Calm down; you aren't thinking clearly. How can you stop loving Mamoru, after all this time? Just give it some time; you'll get to know the girl, she'll accept Japan and our people, and--"

"I will not," Usagi stated firmly. "Now, Luna, please translate to the girl that I am not her mother, I am merely a guardian, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that she is comfortable. Not out of any particular love for her, but because it would be my husband's wish."

&&&&

The new, unfeeling Usagi had situated herself in the Chiba household as an efficient mannequin; taking care of the needs of the other two occupants of the home. Mamoru stepped on eggshells around the always irritated woman who'd changed so much from the woman he'd married.

After a month of this stranger sharing his house, Mamoru had snapped. Going to Luna and the Senshi for aid was his only option. "Please," he said as he knelt on the tatami mat in the Hino shrine. "My wife has not been herself lately; it's tearing me apart to think that I've sent her into this numb shell. Can you help me?"

The muted, background noise of the patrons of the shrine filled the quiet room as the others remained in silence until finally someone had the nerve to speak. "We've been through a lot, and yet the fact remains that you two were finally married. Is one of us to say that this was the wrong step; this marriage? We cannot; the fault lies only with you."

After that, no one could remember who uttered those fateful words, but it started a chain reaction that left the Senshi battered spiritually and Mamoru defeated emotionally. If he lost his Japanese wife because of an earlier American one, then it was his own fault because he hadn't been completely truthful.

The arrival of a child, unwanted in the Chiba household, had caused a great suffering with the married couple. Having a child dropped unexpectedly into their laps and their lives was what was tearing apart their marriage.

"Usagi, please," Mamoru pleaded with his wife one night after a particularly nasty argument in which Mamoru had done all the shouting, and Usagi remained quiet in her numb shell. "They say Theresa is married again; she didn't want Sierra after she found an American man to marry her. And why should she? A half-Japanese brat isn't going to be accepted in America; especially not by Theresa's new husband. It's a better life for Sierra."

"She is not dead?" The coldly spoken words were the first bit of respect Usagi had lately bestowed upon her husband. After her husband's silence, she repeated, "Your American wife, she is not dead? I thought -- the woman from social services said… that the American woman was dead; that is why we got the child."

Mamoru shook his head, pleading with his eyes for his wife's understanding. "Theresa is still very much alive; I've heard from American lawyers that she wants me to be solely responsible for Sierra. Now that she's married to a man of white skin, American birth, she doesn't want any reminders of the time she spent slumming with an Oriental."

"What is better," Usagi said in an expressionless voice. "a Japanese wife or an American one?"

There was no answer for such a question, and they both knew it. Mamoru's intentions had never been to shame his new wife, but trying to ignore the past hadn't made it go away. If anything, it had just made it worse.

"Sierra has learned Japanese very well," Usagi finally said, breaking the tense silence that had fallen after her last comment. "She even asks why we suddenly sleep apart from each other. Is it a Japanese custom, she asks. Slowly, she is learning the way of our people, but she'll always have a part of her that is white and perhaps longs for the land of her birth. What will you do when she starts asking about her biological mother? When she starts wishing to return to America?"

Mamoru said nothing, wisely staying silent beneath his wife's hurt. Usagi had never imagined, after marrying Mamoru, that she would be faced with such a decision. She had known, of course, that her husband wasn't a virgin, but seeing the child born of his seed with another woman had just made it all the more clearer that there was a part of Chiba Mamoru that she could never lay claim to.

&&&&&

**_Author's Note:_** I'm sure some people are going to review and say that Usagi was acting too hastily when she said that she would no longer love Mamoru, but remember: people say things they don't mean in the heat of anger. Or sometimes, they do mean these things. Only time will tell, I suppose.

I just hope this story is going okay so far.


	3. Peach Blossoms

Being the image of a proper Japanese wife didn't come easy to Usagi, especially when she knew that her husband hadn't conducted himself properly before they'd met in this life. Taking care of Sierra, who could now speak proper Japanese, left Usagi with a cold, numb feeling in her heart. This was her husband's child; a child that Usagi could never lay claim to.

Cleaning the house, as was her usual routine, Usagi wondered at the way of the little girl. She'd always expected children to be messy, but Sierra was more well-behaved than Usagi had thought of a child raised in America. Nearing her bedroom door, Usagi heard the sound of her jewelry clinking.

She didn't possess much jewelry, only her wedding and engagement rings, which she usually always wore unless she was doing something involving water, and a few necklaces and other frivolities that she didn't wear much unless Mamoru wanted her to dress up. Included in those objects, however, was the one article that enabled her to transform into Sailor Moon; an item that she hadn't used in years.

An item that was, as she entered the room, now in the hands of the little girl who'd invaded Usagi's happy home. "No!" the woman burst out, hurrying to Sierra's side to grab the necklace from her searching hands. "You never touch this!" she cried, horrified that her mother's legacy had been soiled by the touch of a bastard child from her husband's early liasions.

Although they had never officially been married, and Usagi couldn't truly account her husband for anything he'd done after being reborn, Usagi still felt that his relationship with Theresa, and any other woman he might have had sexual relations with, was a betrayal of their vows to each other.

Gripping the sacred object in shaking hands, Usagi glared at the girl. "You never touch this, do you understand?" she repeated.

Sierra, confused, bit her lip and took a step backward. "Why not? It's just old costume jewelry!"

The girl's firm grasp of Japanese surprised Usagi sometimes, but she didn't let it throw her off track. "Very special," she said carefully, in English, so the girl would understand how serious she was. Usagi knew, of course, that the girl couldn't unleash the special magic contained within the heart-shaped pendant, but it frightened her to see it in the hands of another person.

Sierra tightened her eyes in annoyance, pushing out her lower lip. "I want to go home to Mommy." It was the first time she'd ever uttered anything like that, and it came as a shock to Usagi.

"Your mother doesn't want you," she said, without thinking of how the words would strike the child's heart. Wincing, she said quickly, "I didn't mean that!" Trying to take the words back was useless, but Usagi tried anyway. The girl couldn't understand Usagi's obsession with the obviously fake pieces of jewelry, but she relented them to the woman's possession, and said nothing further about wanting her biological mother.

To Usagi, it was a defeat for both of them. Sierra had learned that it wasn't wise to cross Usagi after she'd lost her caring side, and Usagi learned that the girl was wiser than she'd let on. "Maybe," Usagi said to herself one day after dropping Sierra off at her Japanese class, "that girl is smarter than I thought. Could she be the one to carry on Mamoru's legacy, instead of my own child?"

It was a frightening thought to Usagi, because if she wasn't meant to have a child with Mamoru, then the destruction of their former world had been for nothing. Hadn't it all happened because of their forbidden love? The realization that, perhaps, she and Mamoru were never supposed to be together from the beginning, rocked Usagi's soul. To the depths of her former self as the princess, Usagi felt that it was her own fault that the moon kingdom and all her people had been killed -- needlessly.

Ashasmed of herself, Usagi wandered the streets of Tokyo until she came to a park she'd never seen before. Located outside a small temple, from the glimpses Usagi could catch behind the high bamboo fence, it was a peaceful garden; only tranquility and relaxation were present within. Paying the small fee at the gate, Usagi entered with careful, reverent steps. Almost at once, she felt oddly out of place in her modern day clothing; to enter a place like that, she felt, it would have been best to wear a beautiful silk kimono and have her hair done in the traditional style. The garden was like a place lost in time; a place back before the kingdom of the moon had fallen, before its' princess had made a fateful decision.

Amazed that she'd never located the place before, Usagi traversed the cut-gravel pathways between the beautiful trees and flowers. Barely making a sound, Usagi searched within herself for the peace she'd lost after Sierra had entered the lives of herself and her husband.

Rounding a bend in the path, Usagi hesitated when she saw a Japanese woman, dressed in formal kimono, kneeling at the side of the walkway, beneath a beautiful blooming tree. Looking around, Usagi searched for a veering of the path so she wouldn't disturb the woman's meditation, but found none. To continue on her journey, she would have to pass by the woman who seemed to easily fit into this beautiful land in a way that Usagi herself did not feel.

Careful to keep her steps quiet, Usagi made her way past the woman, seeing as she did a beautifully decorated Oriental-style fan lying in her lap. The woman, whoever she was, could almost be a noblewoman out of the Meiji era.

Passing out of the woman's sight, Usagi felt a little calmer. In her modern day T-shirt and blue jeans, she'd felt very conspicuous next to the woman who almost certainly had to be a famous and high-priced geisha, for no one else could be so traditional in her manner that she appeared to be from such a lost time.

Or could she even be a housewife, weighted down by her life's troubles, as Usagi herself was? It was possible, of course, that she could be such a person, seeking an escape from the life she'd found herself trapped in. Whoever the woman was, she was more at home in this land than Usagi was, and yet the woman found herself oddly peaceful in the land that seemed to be far removed from Tokyo.

Was that the secret to peace? Usagi now wondered. Was it better, getting in touch with your roots and the traditions of your ancestor's time? If that was so, then Usagi should start living in the ways of the moon kingdom; the ways she'd grown up with in that life so long ago. Others may think her strange, but if that was what it took to equal self-peace…

&&&&

Sewing was not Usagi's speciality; in fact, she was quite unskilled at it, but she didn't let that small fact stop her from gaining the proper period clothing of a time long past. Hiring a woman, a costume designer, who would follow Usagi's specifications to the letter without question, was the perfect solution. Now, Usagi lifted the silken dress from its packaging after it was delivered by a messenger.

The old-fashioned dress would be the first step to living the way of her old life. Her husband would never understand; no one would. But after finding the 'Garden of Peace,' as she called it, Usagi had found a new side to herself. Frequenting the garden would ultimately help her to become the woman she'd been before.

Usagi knew, though, that taking up the mantle of the traditional Japanese woman would raise a lot less questions. It wasn't unusual to see a woman suddenly decide to get in touch her roots; the heart of Japan that had been lost in all of the modern day shuffle. Gathering together the separate pieces that, put together, would make her a traditional and old-fashion woman, Usagi held the truth before her like a lantern on a dark night.

If she was to survive her husband's indiscretion; if she was to complete her life and live it fully, it would have to be on her terms. Hearing a commotion outside the doorway of her room, she looked up from the ivory dress to see Sierra standing in the door. "Usagi-san," she said respectfully, "Is it okay if I go see Luna? She's supposed to teach me some more about Japanese culture."

"Isn't that what that expensive Japanese class is for?" Usagi said carefully, not wanting to hurt the girl's feelings.

Looking down at her feet, Sierra bowed politely. "Please, Usagi-san, Luna promised to teach me about a tea ceremony. It sounds really fun."

Usagi recalled her own learning of the tea ceremony, and finding it awfully boring; just sitting in one place so long just for a simple cup of tea. But it was steeped in Japanese tradition; something that had to be done perfectly properly. Sighing, she lowered her head, careful not to wrinkle the dress in her hands. "Very well, but be back before dark."

Bursting with excitement, the girl left the doorway, leaving Usagi to puzzle over her actions. Who would get so excited about learning about the intricate and long art of the tea ceremony? Luna must not have explained it properly to the girl, she finally decided.

Hearing the girl leave the house, Usagi moved to her jewelry box after carefully putting the dress away, and lifted out the two most special objects. Her mother would be proud of the way she cherished them, she decided. Placing the necklace around her neck, Usagi felt the familiar jolt of power that always came whenever she wore the cheap-looking necklace after a long absence.

There was no need for the transformation object to be close by, but Usagi felt useless without it. It would be easier, too, because she wouldn't have to be afraid that Sierra would get her hands on it.

With the house empty, Usagi had the afternoon to herself, and she meant to take advantage of it. Dressing in the ivory dress, brushing her hair out until it shone, slipping on slippers of soft suede, Usagi made her way outside. Many of her memories from the time of the moon kingdom were missing, disjointed, because that had been a completely different person who had experienced them. The princess and Usagi were two very different people.

&&&&

Nearing the Rakuen, a name given to the 'Pleasure Garden' that Usagi had begun to frequent, she saw the kimono-wearing woman leaving the gates. Resisting the urge to call out to her, Usagi continued past the Rakuen, in the opposite direction from the woman. The Rakuen hadn't been her destination today, anyway; instead, she was headed for a house in a residential section of Tokyo.

A small, one-story house, cramped and dark, was where Usagi paused. Outside, she looked at the home. It was unassuming; carefully tucked away between other smallish houses. No one would suspect that living inside these walls was an American GI with his _joufu_ lover. Taking a deep breath, Usagi made her presence known to the people inside.

As the door was opened, a Japanese woman peering out, Usagi bowed deeply. "Momo-chan, might I come inside? I am Chiba Usagi; I spoke with your--" here, she hesitated. It would impolite to say 'lover' to this woman, and Usagi was well aware that "Momo" and the American GI weren't married. "I spoke with the American," she finally corrected herself, "and he has agreed to meet with me. A small discussion, about the American child now in my house."

Momo's eyes were distrusting, but she bowed politely and invited Usagi into her home. "Strange dress you wear," Momo said as the two knelt on mats, Momo serving tea as was expected of her.

Usagi lowered her eyes to the tea cup placed in front of her, saying nothing. She had located the American GI, Charles Smith, after a deliberate search for any Americans living nearby that might help her with Sierra's adjustment to the new world hse found herself in. Speaking with Charles, who spoke fluent Japanese, Usagi had learned of his lover; a Japanese woman he had christened Momo.

Momo had been a prostitute, working the entertainment district of Tokyo, before Charles had found her and offered her a good sum of yen if she would cater to him exclusively. The woman had been tired of the life she was living and had quickly accepted the white man's offer. All of this information had been handed to Usagi; she hadn't asked for any details of Charles' private life.

"Charles will be home soon," Momo said after Usagi's continued silence. "How do you know my _mabu_?"

Usagi's eyes flew up to clash with Momo's. In Japanese, _mabu_ translated to a married woman's lover, but Usagi had been led to believe that Momo was a free prostitute until she'd met Charles. Frowning, she said carefully, "Surely you are not married. Charles-san said you were working the streets before him. Is it not so?"

Momo laughed, waving her hand in the air. "The American does not know! Why should I tell him my husband is always away from Japan? Never will he come back; they'll never meet. I enjoy Charles in my bed, and I keep my husband's money and name. Good, yes?"

Frowning at the news, Usagi took a sip of her tea. "I am sorry, Momo-san. I thought… It appears that things are all mixed up. I should not have come."

"Why did you come?" Momo said forcefully, glaring at the woman who was interfering on her territory. "Charles is mine."

Usagi shook her head quickly. "It is not like that! I found Charles-san with a list of Americans near my home. I wish to speak to him because I have an _Amerikan _child in my home; I need to know how to help her better here in Japan. I hoped Charles-san could help with this."

Momo said nothing to this, only regarding Usagi with a suspicious look. After a few moments, Usagi began to see something familiar in the woman's profile. "Your name…" she said hesitatingly. "What is your real name? Not Momo-chan, I think."

Dressed in a plain, cotton kimono, far less elaborate than the woman at the Rakuen wore, Momo was a familiar figure to Usagi; a figure she hadn't seen in years. But, could it possibly have been Sierra who had brought this woman back into her life? "Naru," she finally said, spitting it out like a curse. "The name I was given by my mother. Momo, given to me by my lover, is so much better, don't you think?"

Usagi smiled. "Naru-chan, I thought that was you, beneath that glare. How has your life turned out so much different than we always thought? A husband, and an American lover? It is not a good life, Naru-chan!"

"Who are you to speak to me in such a way? You, who wears such a silly dress in public! Are you trying to be a little girl again; playing dress-up? If so, wear a kimono, like a proper Japanese woman! Or are you so stupid that you think this ugly dress is fashionable?"

"My family name before I was married was Tsukino." It was a simple sentence, but it made all the difference in Momo's -- Naru's -- attitude towards the woman. Almost at once, there was a visible change in Momo's bearing; she lost much of the tension in her shoulders and allowed herself to lower her guard.

After high school, Usagi had lost contact with Naru; not even able to invite her to her wedding. It was a horrible shock to see Naru as a prostitute; a married woman with a lover she hid from her legal husband.

"Usagi-chan…" Momo said softly, in wonder. "Charles, if you wish to speak to him, I'll let him say anything that is true!" she burst out, eyes wide.

Nodding, Usagi smiled at her former friend. "I have so much confusion," she muttered. "The American girl I spoke of; she is my husband's daughter from a earlier marriage I had no idea about. And now, I do not care for either of them. I just came here to find out about American customs so I can make life easier for a little girl who shouldn't have to suffer." _Despite my earlier vow of not caring for her except out of necessity_, she said to herself.

Listening, Momo looked at her former friend. "Usagi-chan, don't do this; don't ruin your life. Go back to your husband; love him, and stay at his side, despite what's happened. So what if he has a child from another woman? It isn't sinful; it happens all the time." A pause. "Were you a virgin for him?"

Usagi's eyes flew to the other woman's. "Of course!"

Momo nodded slowly, taking a small sip of the cooling tea. Both had so far ignored the beverage, given only out of politeness at the onset of the meeting. "Then maybe you went into it with expectations that were too high. I mean, did you really think that your husband would be a virgin when he met you?"

Usagi squirmed beneath the weight of the rhetorical question. She had known that, realistically, Mamoru wouldn't have been a virgin, but there had been a hope deep inside that no one else had known his body the way she would.

"Look," Momo continued, "don't judge me because of what you see me doing, okay? My husband and I were never in love; it was a marriage for money after my mother lost her store. Saeki found me when I was at my worst moment, and he took me as his wife. We weren't in love; he needed a wife to give him face here in Japan while he's off in America or the Phillipines, wherever business takes him. And I, I needed someone with money to take care of me."

"But… The American GI?" Usagi asked softly, not wanting to pry into her friend's affairs too much.

Momo shrugged. "I was lonely since Saeki is gone all the time; I'm lucky if I see him once a year, and then only for a night or two. So, yes, I began a life as a prostitute. But it isn't what you're thinking! I started out like a geisha; I found a house that would let me entertain men by telling stories, serving drinks, or just looking beautiful in a room while they did their business meetings. Only if I wanted it did the men paying ever receive any sexual favors, and I usually never wanted to do that with any of them."

Lost in the past, Momo explained to her friend how her life had ended up as it had. "Anyway, one night a new client showed up. An American GI who, I might add, was very handsome. It looked like he didn't have a lot of money, so I was confused at how he could afford my rates, which were jacked up by the mama-san of the house, but I decided that it was a rich friend or a boss giving him a night of fun. So, I was attracted to him, and I'm sure you know the rest."

Hearing her friend's story, Usagi could understand the reasons behind what she'd done. "Now," Momo said before Usagi had a chance to reply, "Why are you wearing such a silly dress? I remember, once, you wanted to be a bride, but… You already got that dream. Is this a childhood fantasy or something?"

"It was a stupid idea," Usagi said softly, lowering her eyes in sudden understanding. Everyone would laugh at her, for trying to turn back the clock to a time that wasn't even one of a proper Japanese woman. If she wanted to live in an ancient period, she would be better off wearing a kimono and geta. "I think," she said decisively, "that I'll stick to kimono from now on."

The two sunk into the routine of old friends; getting to know about each other's lives as they waited for the arrival of the American GI. After the pale-skinned man's return, the modest house was abuzz with conversation; half in Japanese, half in English, during which Usagi practiced her faltering knowledge of the language with the native speaker.

"Thank you very much, honorable Smith-san," Usagi said politely as she bowed, silhouetted in the doorway. Taking her leave, she smiled at the couple. "You have helped me very much with maybe making Sierra more comfortable living here. Momo-chan, if you ever wan to visit, please do." Neither of the women had revealed to Charles that they had known each other from their school days, and they felt it was better that way.

As she left the small home of her friend, Usagi felt a sense of peace descending over her that even the Rakuen hadn't given her. Seeing Naru again, getting to know an old friend, had showed Usagi that her life wasn't as bad as she'd thought it was. At least she was with her husband; he wasn't gone all the time.

Hurrying home, through the streets of Tokyo, Usagi was surprised to see that it was almost sunset. How had the time flow so quickly? Surely Sierra, and maybe even Luna, would be at the house, wondering where she was.

As she neared the house, seeing the lights on downstairs, Usagi knew that someone was home, waiting for her return. Calling out "I'm home!" as she entered the house, taking off her shoes and putting on the pair of slippers that were waiting, she cautiously inched her way into the family room. Finding no one there, she continued on to the kitchen, where she found her husband's daughter sitting on the floor, her head bowed.

"Sierra," she said softly, taking a wary step into the room. "Are you all right?"

After a few moments, the girl looked up. Even from a distance, Usagi could see tear stains on her cheeks. Lighter than a Japanese woman's, darker than a white woman's, the child was undeniably caught between two worlds, and Usagi didn't know how to help her.

Fearing accusation, fearing hatred and persecution, Usagi steeled herself for the little girl's words. Looking up, the girl only said, "Welcome home," in a toneless voice, brushing past her father's wife as she left the room.

Assuming that she'd gotten her step-daughter's approval, at least slightly, Usagi set herself to the task of making a light dinner of rice, noodles, and corned beef. The corned beef might be salty, but if mixed in with a little water, eaten with the rice, it tasted delicious. She wondered, as she put the bowls on a tray, if Sierra would enjoy the simple fare.

Taking it up to Sierra's room, deciding that the girl didn't have to come downstairs for dinner for once, she tapped lightly on the door. "Dinner's ready," she called, relieved that the language barrier had been overcome.

Entering after the girl's emotionless call, Usagi looked at the girl who was looking out the window. Kneeling just inside the door, Usagi placed the tray on the floor and cautiously slid it toward the girl, keeping her head bowed. Before coming upstairs, she had changed into a kimono, and put her hair up into a bun. She was the image of an old-fashioned Japanese wife, and she felt as if she were tending to the second wife's unruly child.

"Please, you must eat," Usagi said. "Despite what you think of me, I've brought you a meal."

Sierra turned to face the woman, slightly surprised to see her in a subservient pose. "Usagi-chan…" she said slowly. "Why do you do this? You are suddenly treating me as if--"

"I treat you as my husband's child," Usagi broke in, raising her head to make eye contact with the young girl. Bowing, hands pressed against the floor, Usagi then began arranging the dishes for the girl's consumption.

"Is this a Japanese custom?" Sierra asked as she began on the noodles. "You acting like a servant, I mean."

In the middle of setting out the tea pot and a cup, Usagi looked up. "I am being a good hostess," she said. "You can find no fault with this."

Peering at her after sitting back, finished with arranging the girl's meal, Usagi was shocked to find that the girl was acting, suddenly, much older than she was. Luna's influence, perhaps?

Choosing her words carefully, Usagi poured two cups of tea: one for her husband's child, and one for herself. "I understand that, in America, children prefer soda to tea. I've heard that, to one not accustomed to it, green tea is a bit hard to get used to. Would you like for us to stock up on soda, and other American foods for you?"

The girl looked at her curiously, chopsticks loaded with rice halfway to her mouth. "Why?" she said as she watched, despondently, as her clumsy fingers lost the food on the chopsticks.

"Maybe some forks, too, along with a Western-style bed," Usagi continued. Seeing the girl's continued quizzical look, she said: "I know that it's been a hard adjustment for you."

Seeing her father's wife, dressed in a kimono, Sierra was reminded even more directly that she didn't belong in such a world. She'd learned the language, and adjusted to the lifestyle changes as much as possible, but she still felt out of place. Raised in America, living the first few years of her life in a purely white lifestyle, Sierra hadn't been prepared for the changes that had taken place in her short life.

Clearing her throat nervously, turning her attention back to the food before her, Sierra made no response to the woman's efforts at kinship. Still a little girl, despite the oddly mature way she sometimes acted and spoke, Sierra wasn't sure what the correct words were in this situation.

She barely saw her father, whom she hadn't even known was still alive, and was almost dependant on her father's wife. Luna, the first person who had made Sierra feel truly at home in such a foreign land, was also a person that Sierra looked to for support, even if she did seem strangely like a cat and wore the strangest cat ears and tail. They had been the two to help her assimilate her new life in Japan with her old life in America. But could the two ever come together?

Still in the position she'd adopted just inside the doorway, Usagi saw the emotions flit over the child's face. Could they have a life: Usagi, Mamoru, and Sierra; the way Momo seemed to expect of them?


	4. Family

"Theresa, please." Mamoru's voice was tight, his face drawn with tension. Sitting in his home office, the door closed, he attempted to hide the conversation from the two females he lived with. There was no need to worry about Usagi; if she walked in, she would only think he was talking to an American colleague; she didn't speak English, after all. But if Sierra appeared, she would realize that it was her mother on the phone, and that could get complicated.

"You're the one who wanted a child, so why are you handing her to me?"

"Because I can't have a chink baby!" his ex-wife's shrill voice came through the receiver. "Frank won't stand for it; he hates Orientals, and he was ready to walk out on me when he saw Sierra. If I hadn't convinced him that she was a friend's daughter, I would have lost him! Is that what you want, Max? For me to be lonely, just because of your chink baby?"

Theresa, unable to master Mamoru's true name, had nicknamed him 'Max,' which she used to introduce him to all of her American friends. She had always been a lonely woman, but Mamoru had never expected that she would give up her baby just because of her Asian features.

"Calm down," he said gruffly, casting a nervous look at the doorway. "Sierra is fine here, there's no problem. But what are you going to do when she starts asking about her mother?" He paused, then said bitingly: "And how can you call her a chink, Theresa? _You_ are the one who wanted this baby; you're the one who thought being married to a Japanese man would get you whatever you wanted."

Apparently, Mamoru decided, being shackled with an Oriental baby wasn't what Theresa wanted for her life. It had been an easy move for her to shuttle the little girl off to social services, who would pay for the plane ticket to Tokyo, if only to help a little girl find her real family.

"Frank buys me whatever I want," Theresa said. "But what do I get with a baby? Nothing! You really want me to take her back; ruin my life?"

"You can't have her," Mamoru growled, suddenly seized by a possessiveness he hadn't know he possessed. If Theresa didn't want her own flesh and blood, it was up to Mamoru to see that the girl remained with a parent.

It sickened him to hear how his ex-wife suddenly cared more about herself than any other. Or perhaps she had always been this way, and Mamoru just hadn't noticed it before. Hadn't she enjoyed flaunting her Oriental husband to her friends? 'This chink will make me rich; you know how they always work, work, work,' he could imagine her saying when he was out of earshot. But maybe the exoticism had worn off after she'd been saddled with a baby and no husband.

Clearing his throat, Mamoru looked down at the paper he'd received in the mail, which had prompted the overseas phone call. Typewritten in English, the paper stated that it was Mamoru's sole responsibility to take care of Sierra, but she would need monthly visits to the States until she was properly at home in Japan.

"I can't go to America every month," he said, finally coming to the point of the phone call.

Laughter trilled over the line. "Are you kidding? You made great money; I've seen your bank statements! It would be no hard feat for you to travel here, you and Sierra, so she won't be so afraid of that place." A pause. "I, myself, couldn't even consider going to such a place. I'm afraid for my daughter, you know. You'd better be treating her right, Max."

"If you care so much, why don't you come here yourself and see how she's doing?" Mamoru growled before hanging up, leaving his ex-wife to hear only the dial tone buzzing in her ear an ocean away.

Knowing that Theresa would never lower herself to travel to a country where everyone was slant-eyed and couldn't speak her language, Mamoru turned back to his work. Dwelling on his ex-wife would not do well for his life with Usagi, and now that she was thawing slightly, he wanted to be on her good side permanently.

&&&&

Listening to her step-daughter's lessons, Usagi was pleased to learn that Luna's degree of teaching was very well. In a few short months, Sierra sounded as fluent as if she'd been born speaking Japanese, and knew much of the customs, as well. Having made a snap decision a few weeks earlier to take Sierra out of the classes she'd been in, and put her totally under Luna's tutelage, Usagi was now happy about her decision.

Although Sierra had lost the social interactions she'd had the privilege of in the classes, now that she was one-on-one with her own private -- and free -- tutor, she was learning at a rapid pace. Usagi wasn't always sure of her place in her husband's life now, after the secrets that had come to light, but she had attempted to open her heart again to the man that she'd promised to spend her life with.

Her marriage vows would stay intact; she wouldn't ruin her marriage with Mamoru over such a tiny thing like a girl Usagi had come to love as her own. Picking up the phone as it rang, Usagi was surprised to hear Momo's voice.

"Usagi-chan, I'd like to see you again. Might I visit your home?"

Confused by her old friend's request, Usagi agreed almost immediately. Dropping Sierra off at her mother's house, to spend time with Ikuko and Luna, who were always happy to have the girl, Usagi headed back to her home to await Momo's arrival. She hadn't thought of Momo -- Naru -- wanting to visit so suddenly. What had drawn her to Usagi's home?

In the family room, laying out a tea service, Usagi heard the doorbell. Glancing toward the doorway, she brushed at the shoulders of her pale kimono, wriggling her toes in the comfortable inside-house slippers. "Momo-chan," she said carefully, bowing as she opened the door. "Please, come inside." Leading Momo into the family room, Usagi gestured toward the tea service. "Can I get you a cup of tea? It's freshly brewed; green."

"Please," Momo said respectfully, kneeling before the table as her hostess poured the tea.

"I'm pleased to see you," Usagi said.

Nodding, Momo looked around the room. "You've got a beautiful house," she said. "Is your husband rich?"

"Doctor," Usagi said easily, knowing that the single word explained it all. Maybe they weren't as rich as they could be, but they lived comfortably.

"I came," Momo said slowly, "because I wanted to talk to you about the lives we've chosen for ourselves. Do you really think that mine is so awful? I've found happiness, Usagi-chan, in the arms of two men. Why should I give one up? Saeki-san is often with other women on his travels; he must be, or he would not simply take me once when he is here, once a year, out of duty."

"My husband and I do not want any others," Usagi said, then paused, reflecting. "Once, Mamoru did. But all men have needs, don't they? And women -- we are different; we can wait until we've found the one we love."

Momo's eyes widened. "You believe so strongly in this, Usagi-chan? I always wanted to find the man I loved, but it took me many times with many different men until I found my way to Charles' arms. And so what if he's an American? We are in love; that is enough."

Usagi looked at her friend, seeing the girl's happiness. She'd found joy in the arms of two very different men, and Usagi didn't want to be the one to spoil that. _What if that's how Mamoru feels_? That niggling little voice in the back of her head popped up. _Your husband might just have been satisfied in the arms of you and Sierra's mother. How would you feel if he took you as his second wife, and she had superiority_?

"No!" Usagi cried aloud, horrified by her own thoughts. It just wasn't done anymore; more wives than one. But what if it had been destined to happen since the time of the moon kingdom, and was only now coming to fruition? _Did he ever get a legal divorce from this American wife_? Usagi wondered.

Momo looked at her friend in worry. "Usagi-chan, are you all right?" Suddenly, the girl had cried out as if someone were hurting her.

Blinking, as if to clear her thoughts, Usagi shook her head slowly. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry, Momo-chan, it's been a hard day."

Usagi still wasn't able to acquaint herself with the idea of this strange woman being her childhood friend. The Naru she remembered was nothing like the image in a frayed kimono that now sat before her. Life changed everyone, however, and Usagi knew that for a fact. She had drastically changed from the girl she'd been in high school, but that was mostly because of her training as a Senshi. You couldn't face death every day and not change at least a bit.

And, though she wished it could be so, Usagi knew that it wasn't Momo's presence that was upsetting her emotionally. Above all, it was the specter of the woman from her husband's past. A woman who knew Mamoru inside and out; far better than Usagi herself, because this faceless woman had borne Mamoru's child.

"Am I unworthy of my husband?" Usagi said suddenly, drawing a startled look from her companion. "Because I haven't given him a child."

Momo's eyes widened. "Is that what you think, Usagi-chan? It's no such thing! If Mamoru was unsatisfied, you'd know about it. Children aren't the most important thing; there are other ways to make your marriage a good one."

Listening to her friend's advice, Usagi was suddenly ashamed that she'd ignored her best friend after she had been revealed as a Senshi. It had been a shameful act, one that had left her life perhaps strayed from its original plan. "Momo-chan, I'm sorry how things turned out in school," she said suddenly. "It was awful of me, and I'd like to make it up to you now, if I can."

The other woman shook her head. "Don't even think such a thing! Neither of us could help what happened." Pausing, Momo looked down at the rapidly cooling tea that had been left untouched, and smiled sheepishly. "If we're going to do this often," she said, waving a hand to show that she indicated their meetings, "then we should stop the tea-giving. Neither of us drinks it, and it just cools and goes to waste. Let's just be friends, like before. Okay? No standing on ceremony."

"Okay," Usagi agreed quickly, wanting to capture the friendship she'd lost while gathering new ones.

&&&&

The soft fluttering of bird's wings was the first thing Mamoru was aware of upon awakening. Lying upon his futon, eyes closed, he listened to the chirping outside the open window. Sounds drifted from downstairs of his wife, who was preparing for the new day. Finally, Mamoru had a day off -- on a weekend, which was a rare occurrence. He planned to spend the day talking with his daughter, beginning to understand her in ways that he hadn't been able to since he'd been working so often.

Sometimes, Mamoru regretted that he'd taken up the mantle of a doctor, especially when it took him away from such important parts of his life. He had never before reflected on the things that his job was taking away from him. And just how long had it been since he'd been relaxed enough to enjoy the simple pleasure of hearing a bird's song? Far too long, he knew.

Mamoru didn't even know what was going on his wife's life. He recalled the mention of a new friend, but the discussion was vague, having taken place briefly just before he'd rushed out the door on the way to the hospital.

Lying quietly, enjoying the peace in a way he hadn't in years, Mamoru wondered momentarily what had brought upon the sudden reflection. Was it waking up, and knowing that he didn't have to rush?

Hearing his daughter's footsteps going hurriedly down the stairs, Mamoru decided there was enough time for reflection later. Right now, it was time to enjoy the day with his family. Getting up and ready for the new day was simple, as it hadn't been in many years. Since he'd gotten into the routine of a doctor, always rushed and too busy for himself or his loved ones, Mamoru had hated getting up in the mornings. Even going to sleep at night had turned into a chore because he knew it was only a short time before he had to be active again.

But now, it was a day for rest. Heading downstairs after throwing on a lightweight robe and slipping into a pair of in-house slippers, Mamoru smiled to see his wife and daughter sitting at the breakfast table as if they'd always done so together.

Taking his place in between them, he nodded at his wife as she served his breakfast, smiling tenderly at his daughter. "How are you liking Tokyo so far, Sierra-chan?" he asked in English.

"Fine, Papa," she answered smoothly in Japanese, slightly surprising her father.

"Sierra-chan has been learning a lot; she's almost fluent now," his wife said softly as she blew on her tea to cool it. "You'd almost think she was raised here," she added with a glance at her husband.

"Very good!" Starting in on his breakfast, Mamoru enjoyed the time with his family.

"It's rare that I've got a weekend off," Mamoru said as the last bite of salmon was taken. "Would the two of you like to spend it together; maybe do something in the city?"

The two readily agreed, and a family outing was planned. The Chiba household hadn't visited a shrine in what felt like forever, and they were ashamed of their lapse. Visiting the Hikawa Jinja was the first stop on their list, and then they would shop a bit at the department stores and perhaps even eat dinner at a good restaurant.

"I'm sure you know the good restaurants, what with your business dinners with doctors from other hospitals!" Usagi said to her husband as the three discussed their choices of eating establishments on their way to the shrine.

Hearing the teasing note in his wife's voice, Mamoru smiled and squeezed her shoulder. "Usako, you know it's nothing like that. If I do have any dinners, they're just because my bosses are pressuring me to make a good impression on visiting doctors to hopefully get their support. It's not like I ask to be chosen."

"I know," Usagi said. "But it's nice that you know where the good food is; a great meal will be the perfect ending to our day."

"We've got to get started first!" Sierra chirped as the shrine steps came into view.

&&&&

The day had been nearly perfect, Mamoru thought to himself, as they neared the house. The Hikawa Jinja had been busy, as it normally was on a weekend, so Rei hadn't had any time to chat. Shopping in the stores was hectic, but they had managed to come away with a few useful purchases. When a Western-style bed and other items reminiscent of Sierra's life in America had been suggested, she had vehemently protested. She wanted to live fully Japanese, she said to the two beaming adults.

Dinner had been exquisitite, at a highly-priced but worthwhile restaurant that Mamoru had once visited with a doctor from an American hospital. And now, eating shaved ice and seeing moths gathering in the glare of the street lamps, the content family neared their doorway.

It was amazing, he knew, that they could so easily turn into a loving family. But wasn't that the way he had wanted it? For he and Usagi to be on good terms, and for Sierra to be happy? He even had a silent promise from his wife that they would retire early, welcoming again the passion that had been missing for far too long. That was something he looked forward to, even more so than the day they'd just had.

Pausing in the entryway to take off his shoes, Mamoru waited while his daughter ran on ahead into the house after exchanging her shoes for soft slippers, and his wife paused outside to gather the mail that had been delivered in their absence. Catching Usagi around the waist and giving her a passionate kiss, he smiled at his beaming wife. "I love you," he whispered, hugging her tightly.

Laying her head against his shoulder briefly, Usagi let her heart grow warm with the feelings she held for her husband. How could she have imagined that she could give this up?

Pulling back and changing her shoes, Usagi leafed through the mail as she walked into the house. "Oh, this is for you," she said as she handed a few envelopes to her husband, who followed her into the family room.

Already there watching TV, Sierra ignored the adults who settled at the table to look at their mail. "Ah! Here's one in English. It must be for you, Mamo-chan."

Handing the envelope to her husband, Usagi turned her eyes back to the mail she held. Frowning at the envelope his wife had given him, Mamoru opened it slowly. Pulling out the typewritten sheet of paper, he sighed deeply as he scanned the words, then read them again slower.

"Something wrong?" Usagi asked as she glanced up from the letter she'd been reading.

"No…" he said slowly, getting to his feet. Bowing stiffly, he informed his wife that he'd be in his office before leaving the room, the letters clutched in his hands.

Frowning, Usagi glanced toward Sierra to see if she'd noticed Mamoru's behavior, but the girl's eyes were glued to the television. Why had Mamoru bowed so formally? One didn't do that to their spouse!

Safely ensconced in his office, Mamoru took the letter out of the envelope he'd crammed it back into, smoothing out the wrinkles as he set it on the Western-style desk. It was from Theresa's American lawyers. The requirement for monthly visits had been dropped, but a phone call once a week was set in its place.

"Easier," Mamoru muttered. It was the postscript, handwritten in his ex-wife's writing, that worried him. _Maybe I'll take a trip to Japan; see my baby. What a backwards chink place! You'd better have a room ready for me; I need to be around my Sierra all the time if I'm going to be in that awful place!_

Would his ex-wife really brave the plane ride across the ocean just to enter a country where she didn't understand anyone? If she couldn't even pronounce Mamoru's name, then she'd be completely lost in Japan, he thought with a hint of amusement. However, there was no way of knowing what Theresa would do. It wouldn't be wise to mention it to Usagi, however, until he knew if it would really happen.

&&&

**_Author's Note_**: To the reviewer who mentioned that "Momo" was the name of Chibi-Usa's childhood friend… Well, I wasn't thinking of that, to be honest. I don't remember much about the SuperS season because, really, the only thing I loved about it was Pegasus. I gave her the new name 'Momo' because I was thinking of peach blossoms, and that it would be a pretty name for the character. Had nothing to do with the canon character you mentioned, sadly.


	5. Plans of Reunion

The apartment was lonely. On the fifth floor of the Izumo Apartment Complex, Mizuno Ami lived a solitary life, surrounded only by her books and spending her life obsessed with her job. She'd taken up the mantle of a doctor, following in her mother's footsteps. After graduation, she had hesitated on the path of life, half-heartedly pursuing her medical degree when she really longed to be a writer. It would have broken her mother's heart, however, if she veered from the path her mother had chosen for her.

Medical texts spread around her, Ami slowly removed her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She didn't really need the glasses, for reading or anything else, but she preferred to hide behind the fake image. Buried beneath the spread-open medical books was a historic text about samurai, Japanese-style fighting, and Africa. It was a story she would pump out in her spare time, still being carefully researched before she began the very first word.

Looking up as she heard the intercom buzz, she slipped the glasses back on and walked toward the wall where the set-up was located. "Mizuno-san," came the tinny voice of the guard. "There's a man here to see you. He claims to be your father."

There was a note of apprehension in the guard's voice. A guard who was there each day since Ami had moved into the complex, and knew everyone who came to visit her. And there had never been a father figure trying to enter her life.

Compressing her lips, Ami reached up to access the video screen of the high-tech security system. Luna had suggested that all of the Senshi invest in the best technology to keep themselves safe in case something cracked about their identity, and Ami had taken her up on that.

"Send me an image of the man, please," she said, the screen still dark.

Slowly, a black-and-white image formed on the small monitor of a shabbily-dressed man. Dark hair fell over his eyes, blunt fingers tapping impatiently on the front desk of the lobby as he looked around at the fake plants and decorative chairs situated on plush red carpet.

He was a stranger, and yet oddly familiar to Ami's eyes. A man she hadn't seen, nor heard from in years… "Send him up," she said on a sigh. "But keep the floor man nearby in case I have need of him, all right?"

"Certainly, ma'am."

The screen went blank as the guard killed the image feed, and Ami closed the panel that disguised the security system. It had cost her a lot of money to have a security system installed that would turn her single apartment into a fortress, especially considering it wasn't part of the complex's original design. It was worth it, however, and she enjoyed the feeling of safety she received. No burglars would be finding the special bracelet she had hidden away.

Hearing the knock at her door, Ami took a breath to steel herself against the unexpected reunion. A father, suddenly dropping back into her life after years of silence. What was his agenda?

Ami had heard about Usagi's newest problems, but she hadn't had a chance to speak to her friend. And although Ami and Mamoru worked at different hospitals, Ami was well aware that the marriage had been strained until recently.

Opening the door, she bowed formally to the man in front of her. "Welcome to my home." Carefully omitting any relationship titles, she stepped back so that the man could enter. The same blood, but totally different attitudes, Ami realized as she saw the cold look in her father's eyes.

"Ami-chan, it's great to see you." His voice was smooth, his lips curling into a polite smile. "I've missed you."

There was no feeling behind the sentiment, no emotion in his voice or his actions as he embraced her. An action which she did not return, merely standing stiffly in his arms until he pulled back. "Why are you here?" she asked bluntly, not caring about the way it would sound.

"To see my daughter, of course," came the succinct answer.

Regarding him with a cold stare, Ami tightened her lips. "The truth."

After a moment's hesitation, the man shrugged. "I heard that your mother found her way into a bit of wealth. It might help inspire my paintings, then I wouldn't have to be traveling all the time for new inspiration. Wouldn't you like that, Ami-chan, if your mother and I got back together?"

"No," she said baldly. "I wouldn't."

Ushering the man out of her apartment, not surprised at the quick end to their visit, Ami shut the door behind him as a thought struck her. Was this how Mamoru's daughter had felt, seeing her father for the first time?

&&&&

Sitting in the Hikawa Jinja, looking at the back of the priestess who was in the middle of meditation, Usagi wondered at the way their lives had turned out. Such great friends while they'd had the common bond of fighting to join them together, lately they had drifted apart. Rei had even stopped meditating in front of the Sacred Fire, which hit Usagi like a ton of bricks that things really _had_ changed drastically.

Now, Rei's bedroom was decorated with _shodo_ calligraphy and she had complete ownership of the temple. The Sacred Fire still burned the same as it always had; Usagi could sense the flames; but Rei didn't kowtow to the spirits of the inferno as she once had. She seemed to pray to a different set of entities now; one that had little to do with her life as warrior of fire.

Waiting until the last chant died in the still air, Usagi finally saw her chance to speak. "I want to call a meeting of the Senshi."

The priestess did not turn to face her, instead remaining in the position facing the wall. "After so long, the princess is taking up her duties." Rei's voice was soft; still retaining the haunting quality of sereneness that her soul found while chanting.

Stiffening at the accusation in the woman's statement, Usagi sputtered for words. "What do you have to show for yourself, Rei-chan? You don't even pray to the spirits of fire anymore! What are these new idols you've adopted? You should not forget: Selene is the most powerful goddess! Why not pray to her?"

Slowly, Rei turned to face her friend. "Usagi-chan, I don't wish to argue with you. Forgive me for my attitude, but… It's been so long since we've all been together. It's almost like that girl of Mamoru-san's is changing us all; ripping us apart! Do you just want me to sit around and do nothing while our friendships are torn in half?"

Realization hit Usagi then: Rei wasn't being selfish, she was just trying to get back the friendships she'd lost. They'd all been lonely, in their own ways, before finding the small band that they belonged with. The years and life circumstances shouldn't be able to destroy such a tight-knit bond.

"What reason did you have in mind for a meeting?" Rei asked then, seeing in Usagi's eyes her understanding.

Clearing her throat, Usagi nodded. "Sierra-chan, for one thing. A lot of changes have come about merely because of one small girl. And there are other matters, I'm sure."

"Fine. When the others have free time, we'll arrange it."

As Usagi was about to leave, she barely caught the whispered words: "It's good to see you again, my friend."

&&&&

Sweat beaded on the woman's forehead as she put her body through the automatic moves. The training mat was soft beneath her bare feet, the cool white cloth of her uniform sticking to her back from the heat. The air conditioning was broken, sending many of the lackluster practitioners away from the school, but this was a woman who remained.

_Sensei _at the Enzan Martial Arts School, Kino Makoto was lost in her own separate world when she trained. Cutting herself off from everything was a way of finding herself, learning just who she was beneath the _sensei_ uniform as her body mindlessly moved into the motions of artistry.

Loneliness was the one key that locked people together, and it was also what kept them apart. Makoto's loneliness was, in some way, self-imposed, but it was that way with the other girls she had bound herself to. Warriors, all of them, and all of them lonely in different ways.

For Makoto, it was a loneliness born of having no family. Being known as Kino-_sensei_, one of the school's top instructors, gave her a feeling of pride, especially in the knowledge that she'd taken what she'd learned from her troubled youth and fused it into a successful adult life.

As the ritual came to an end, Makoto drew her arms down into a last move; the final movement in her oft-practiced ceremony. Releasing a breath, she bowed to an invisible opponent and, turning, made her way to the bench where she picked up a white cotton towel and patted at the sweat.

When the training room was deserted, that was when it was the best. That was why Makoto would brave the stifling heat, risking heat stroke, just to get in the most intense training possible. Kino-_sensei_ was, perhaps, one of the most eccentric trainers in the school; she pushed her students hard and wouldn't stand for any sort of bad influences to the body like drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes.

She respected her body, and expected her students to do the same. Padding toward her office, still barefoot, Makoto looked at the frosted glass window on the door, seeing her name in black characters there. It still amazed her that she'd gotten so successful in her life's field that she had her own name pasted on a door. Cheap, yes, and peeling on the corners, but it was _hers_.

Pulling open the door, she flipped on the light, spotting her shoes just at the side of the door where she'd left them. Bypassing them, she saw the low Japanese-style table in the middle of the room, which served as her desk. She'd never taken up the tradition of Western-style business desks that some of the other teachers had adopted. For Makoto, she much preferred to be kneeling, seeing her students eye to eye, at an equal level, instead of creating a feeling of superiority. You couldn't earn anyone's trust, least of all a child's, by acting better than them.

A window just behind the desk showed the school's finely tended yard, and a block print hanging next to the window showed a beautiful and detailed scene of nature. There was a rice-paper screen, decorated with cherry blossoms, that separated the rest of the room from view.

Moving behind the table, Makoto knelt down and picked up the mail that had been delivered earlier, which she had just thrown down without looking at it. She had all of her mail delivered at the school, even her bills. There was no point in keeping two mailboxes, one at the school and one at her usually empty apartment, since she spent most of her time at the school.

Flipping through the envelopes, she paused to see the Tokyo postmark. Ever since moving to Kakunodate, it had been a rare thing to get mail from anyone in her home city. Even the Senshi only called once in a while to check on her.

_Chiba Usagi_. Usagi was sending a letter? Smirking a bit, steeling herself for Usagi's poor kanji, Makoto opened the letter and slid the envelope out of the slit. Eyes traveling the characters, quickly forming them into words, Makoto's breath caught. After so long, a meeting was being called. To discuss the child Makoto was only now learning of…

&&&&

Secrets. They choke us until we can no longer function for fear that someone will find what we're hiding. Mamoru had hidden the secret of Tuxedo Kamen from the public, but he had never thought that something from his past -- something that even _he_ didn't know about would almost ruin his marriage. What good are hiding the secrets, if they only come to light when they can hurt us the most? It's better to get them out in the open, before they have a stronger power.

Mamoru had learned that keeping secrets from his Japanese wife would be very foolish indeed. Needing to clear his head, he had called in sick to work for the first time in his life, and played hooky. Transforming into Tuxedo Kamen, which he hadn't done in years, and losing himself somewhere outside of Tokyo.

Somewhere inside his mind, in a secluded forest, Tuxedo Kamen wandered the footpaths of deer and other small animals, his cape rustling in the wind. He hadn't felt the need to take up the identity of the masked man for years; ever since he and Usagi had been married, he'd been content in the knowledge of who he was. There had been no reason to try to hold onto his past…

Until now.

There was a catch in his chest that hadn't been there before; a wariness in his step that had dissipated with the death of the last of their enemies. Pausing next to a small trickle of water, seeing a chipmunk scurrying away from the intruder, Tuxedo Kamen listened to the sounds of his planet. It had been so long since he'd tried to attune himself with what was in his very blood.

He wondered now if, possibly, Sierra could have that part of his genes. Did she, too, have a magical connection to their home planet? _If she were Usagi's daughter… _He left the thought unfinished, knowing that it was useless.

Sierra _wasn't_ Usagi's daughter; didn't have the power of the Moon's great lineage, and had grown up in America. Certainly not the way she should have been raised to be a proper princess; she was still learning how to be a Japanese girl!

But the kingdom is gone; just like Japan was once set through a Cultural Revolution, as all continents were or will be eventually. There is no hint of Mamoru's parent's proud legacy left; indeed, no one even knows that such a time existed.

The forest was lonely, but inside Tuxedo Kamen's mind, it was even lonelier. He was once again on his wife's good side, but he also had to keep his daughter happy. And how could he keep his daughter happy, if the secrets of her father's past had to be kept hidden?

&&&&

**_Author's Notes: _**Okay, let's see… What do I want to address right now. Ah, the one that pressed against my mind: For everyone who reminded me that chinks are Chinese… I know that, thank you. But racist people aren't always aware of that fact. I, myself, met a few racist children who insulted my Asian boyfriend by calling him, continuously, a 'chink' when, in fact, he wasn't Chinese! So, there's where that comes from in this story, and I refuse to change it. Insults aren't always correct, and that just makes the people making them seem all the more ignorant.


	6. And so, Destiny

Light comes from all corners of the world, but it is the light from the moon that makes the most impression on Sierra. Transplanted into a world with traditions and people she doesn't understand, she has grasped on to the legend of the rabbit in the moon; a Japanese legend she finds more romantic than the 'man in the moon' saying of the Americans. Romanticism isn't the best thing to get stuck on, however, and although at a young age, Sierra knows that she can't stay dependant on the happy feelings the moonlight gives her forever.

Standing outside the Chiba house, Sierra focuses on the glowing orb above her, outshining the many stars collected overhead. Her hair is pulled back, twisted into a three-plait braid, the way her American mother always used to do it before she'd start the day.

It confused her sometimes: her American mother and her Japanese mother were very different people, but sometimes they would blend together, fusing into one person in her mind. Sierra's memory was fading of her American mother, and to keep it within her grasp, sometimes she gave her Usagi's personality. It was childish and useless, Sierra knew that, but she didn't want to lose her memories of Theresa, even if the woman had deserted her.

"Sierra-chan." Her father's voice came from behind her, and she turned to see the man standing in the doorway, silhouetted from the light spilling out of the house. "Why don't you come inside, honey? It's getting late."

Finally getting a night to spend with his family, Mamoru was irritated to be cooped up in his office trying to field threats from Theresa's lawyers. Were they just empty babble, or did his ex-wife truly intend to attempt to take back Sierra?

Taking a breath of the crisp night air, he stepped out next to his daughter. "Tomorrow," he said haltingly, "Usagi-chan wants to have a meeting with her old friends. Do you think you'd like to meet them?"

Sierra looked at her father, sensing that it had taken him much effort to extend the invitation. But what was so special about these friends that her father shouldn't want her to meet them? "Mama's childhood friends? Yes, that would be nice."

Nodding in silence, Mamoru hesitated outside the house for a few moments before reentering the welcoming home.

&&&&

Wearing the constrictive kimono, Sierra followed her step-mother with mincing steps, tottering precariously on the high wooden _geta_. "Sierra-chan, you didn't have to wear a kimono. There's no need to be so formal!" Usagi said as she glanced back at Sierra, pausing to wait for her to catch up.

Sierra smiled at the woman. "I want to make your friends like me!"

_Maybe_, Sierra thought to herself hopefully, _if I look Japanese enough, then they'll forget about my American mother and see Usagi-chan as my real mother_!

As they neared the steep walk of steps, a _torii_ gate looming at the very top, Sierra glanced at Usagi, who now walked at her side. She remembered the temple from their visit there; one of the few family outings she had shared with both her father and step-mother. Crafting her step-mother in her American mother's image had been a mistake, Sierra decided, as she saw a pure joy light up Usagi's face as she caught sight of a figure standing at the top of the steps. As far as Sierra could remember, her American mother had _never_ had that look of unfettered happiness and belonging.

Starting up the steps slowly, trailing behind her step-mother, Sierra observed the woman's actions as they reached the top of the stairway. Laughing and smiling, Usagi was embraced by the woman who had waited at the top of the steep hill. Nodding politely at Sierra, the woman led the way into the temple that Sierra barely had a chance to glimpse.

Listening to Usagi's chatter, Sierra managed to catch the name Ami, deciding that this was, certainly, one of the favored friends. Looking around, trying to get a feel for the temple, Sierra blocked out the conversation between the two friends. It wasn't her place to pry, after all. As they slipped off their street shoes in the entrance hall, Sierra was thankful that she'd remembered to slip on a new pair of socks. What sort of shame would befall her if she had worn a sock with a hole? Japanese tradition would most likely frown on that, when no one was permitted with shoes on the clean floors!

As she followed the two women into the room, apparently a bedroom, Sierra sunk to her knees and pressed her forehead to the floor, squeezing her eyes shut tightly. She heard the silence, it was like a living thing, but didn't move from her position, even when a nervous cough and rustling filled the room.

"Sierra-chan," finally came her step-mother's voice. "You don't have to stand on ceremony; these are friends."

Slowly, Sierra sat up, blinking rapidly to readjust her eyes to the light. Smiling nervously, she said in a rush, "Please accept me as Usagi-san's daughter. I'll do my best!"

Invited into the circle of girls, Sierra took her place slightly behind her step-mother. The old friends were sitting on the floor, legs folded beneath them, in a perfect circle. Feeling out of place, Sierra kept halfway behind Usagi so that she wasn't intruding. As the talk began, she studied the room. Paper lanterns were intermittently hung from the ceiling and sitting on a table, casting shadows across the dim room.

"Rei-chan," Usagi said slowly, "this isn't the room we were in before; not yours. Whose--?"

Rei bowed her head, shrugging. "There are various rooms in the temple; today, I felt like using this one."

The priestess gestured toward plates of food that had been laid out, inviting all of them to partake of the goodies that had been served. After food was consumed, conversation began in earnest. The girls spoke so that Sierra could not understand them, and she felt awkward. Hadn't she learned enough Japanese to understand Usagi and her friends?

Finally, the words were directed to her. Introduced to everyone, seemingly as an afterthought, Sierra slowly became assimilated into their small group and began to truly _hear_ their spoken words. "You'll find that our ways aren't what you've seen in your cultural class," Usagi warned as they all got to their feet after the priestess spoke of reawakening traditions.

Timidly following the women, Sierra carefully observed everything: the polished hardwood floors of the narrow corridor, lined on both sides by rice-paper walls; the old-fashioned paper lanterns, like those in the room they had vacated, lighting the temple that was dark inside even in the brightest parts of the day; the hushed sounds of cloth rustling with movement. Until finally, they came to a stop outside a door that looked just the same as the rest.

In the lead, the priestess opened the door and stepped inside. The others followed, Sierra taking up the back. It was a room of wood: benches carved right from the walls; a wooden basin, full of water piped from somewhere beneath the temple, fresh tatami mats on the flooring. The priestess moved to the closets that lined one wall, opening the door, releasing an odor like springtime.

"Not musty?" the one called Makoto observed.

"Even after all these years, our return has been anticipated," Rei returned. Pulling out lines of cloth, in different colors, all light tones, the priestess set them on a nearby bench, one after the other. The girls went to them, choosing a single one, and picked them up. As they began to dress, Sierra could see that they were kimono, and yet not kimono. Nothing that Sierra was used to after learning the ways of Japan, at least.

After everyone was dressed, Usagi moved to Sierra's side. "Your kimono is fine; you have dressed properly," she said as she laid a hand on her step-daughter's shoulder. "Don't be afraid by anything you see here, Sierra-chan. Your father's people, my people, they were once a great kingdom who practiced many traditions. You want to be one of us, right? To forever be kept from your American mother?"

Sierra looked at her warily. "Perhaps, I…" she said slowly, suddenly afraid to let go of her biological mother's memory.

"She will learn," the one called Minako said. "Sierra-chan, though not of your blood, will be a true child of the Moon."

&&&&

That was the day that Sierra learned that not everything was the way it was taught in school. Under Usagi's tutelage, her father's proud eye, she learned the traditions of the Moon Kingdom, once lost forever but now being revived. The girl didn't understand the enormity of what she was being taught, they all understood that, but it was enough that the ways would be carried on by a younger generation.

"Are you sure she's the one you should be teaching?" Mamoru asked one night as he lay with his wife. "Maybe you should hold off; wait until we have a child of our own. Won't that be better-- a girl-child of your blood, and mine?"

"Maybe," Usagi said softly, "you and I will never make a child. And what happens then? Better that Sierra-chan is taught in my mother's way, so that if someday a child comes, there will be two to carry on the legacy."

The silent darkness of the night caught Usagi's words, wrapping them carefully and protecting them. Sierra would be the first of a new generation.

&&&&

Kneeling in front of the Sacred Fire, Rei bowed her head. She had been neglecting her prayers for far too long. The most religious of all the Moon's warriors, after the battles were over she had forgotten the vows she had taken at Selene's feet. Closing her eyes as she felt the warmth of the flames on her face, Rei silently cursed herself. How had she, guardian of fire, lost herself in the ways of Shinto; not her mother religion?

"Forgive me, Selene," she said softly, beseeching the goddess' mercy.

Moving her hands in the age-old ritual of purifying the circle and the flames, Rei lost herself in the worshiping of her first rulers: Selene, Selenity, and the now-dead Moon Kingdom. But was it truly dead, now that they were planting the seeds of Lunarian tradition in Sierra's young mind?

"Let this girl, not of Usagi-chan's blood, become part of our world. Great Selene, there is no other choice. What if Usagi-chan does not bear Mamoru-kun a child? This is the only way."

"You have deserted your true calling, Mars-san. Where have you been all this time? Luckily, there have been no adversaries during this time," the spirits whispered.

Rei could feel the spirits of the fire burning deep within her; inside her heart, the pit of her stomach, the cocoon of her yet-empty womb. How could she have believed that it was so simple to desert what she'd been born to be? The others had done the same, so why had it taken the presence of a small girl not of their blood to finally draw them together again?

"My absence was my own fault," Rei spoke to the angered spirits. "Whatever has befallen the ones of your world during this time; please feel free to take it from my flesh as payment."

Angering the spirits, whether of fire, earth, moon, wind, or any other, was very dangerous. If retribution was not offered, and sometimes taken, awful things would begin to happen. And in an age when a new Moon lineage was being produced, it would have a disastrous effect if payment was sought from Usagi.

Attuning herself with the fire, Rei fell back into the sorrows of the warriors when they had been fighting. Emotions torn, bodies pained, dreams shattered; that had been the price of being a soldier. And now, without a visible enemy, they were being sent back into the fray of their true identities.

"Is this child's future worth it?" Rei questioned the spirits. "She is not of Usagi-chan's blood; she holds no power. Why do we put ourselves through needless suffering for her?"

"It is Selene's will…" The spirit voices drifted away as Rei fell deeper and deeper into the fire's embrace.

&&&&

The night was a sacred place; full of dreams that Mamoru could not see. Outside the hospital, taking a break from the hurried inside of the ER, Doctor Chiba looked up at the orbiting planet that was his wife's homeland. "We can never go back…" he whispered, his breath coming in jagged spurts. He couldn't catch his breath after being in the emergency room for hours, focusing only on other's problems. It was only after he had left the room for a breath of fresh air that he felt himself finally begin to function normally.

He was connected to the earth in ways that no mere humans could understand. Even his wife and the other Senshi didn't fully understand; with no physical contact with their own planets, they could only imagine what it would feel like to be totally recognized by the soil beneath your feet; the wind swirling around you. He knew that the others were jealous of his connections, that they wanted to know what it was like to be on land that was joined to them, but it futile to wish for things that could never be.

The other planets were uninhabitable now, and they would remain that way. Even if one of them did possess the power, it would be useless, because their lives were here on Earth. There was no one to go back to on the worlds out in space.

Hearing the clearing of a throat behind him, Mamoru turned to see one of the interns silhouetted in the light coming from the hospital. "Dr. Chiba, your patient in room two-forty is asking for you. The psychic, remember? Something about floating cities and angel wings."

Sighing, Mamoru nodded and followed the intern into the hospital again. His work was never done, as a doctor, and his work as a father was just beginning, if he could truly think of himself in that way. Wasn't Usagi doing most of the raising of Sierra? It left a bitter taste in Mamoru's mouth, to know that his wife was raising the child that wasn't truly hers; to know that Usagi no longer had the freedom she had once cherished. Who could be free while raising a child?

&&&&

The rustling of the trees woke Sierra from a sound sleep. She heard the wind's call, the tightening of the soil beneath the concrete as it begged for release, and groaned, rolling over to her side. Just a dream, she told herself, as she drifted back to sleep. No one could _feel_ the earth's calls…

&&&&

The girl hadn't yet been told about her step-mother's identity as Sailor Moon; she didn't know of the powers she might have inherited by her father. For her, the lessons she'd been given by Usagi and the others were just that: life lessons that everyone had to learn. She didn't see it as from another time and world; it was just what her new mother was teaching her. And if she started to feel weird when she was around nature-- Well, maybe it was just because she wasn't used to Japan all the way yet.

Usagi looked in on her step-daughter, relieved to see her sleeping peacefully. Worried that the lessons from the Senshi were placing ill effects on the child, Usagi had talked it over with her husband. But Mamoru had been adamant that Sierra learn everything that she could about the long-dead world. He reminded Usagi that, after all, it had been her idea in the first place to teach the girl.

The ways shouldn't be allowed to die out, was all that Usagi could think of. So what if Sierra wasn't from Usagi's womb? She was still from Mamoru's seed, and that gave her a connection to the time long past. It was enough.

&&&&

The family of three sat around the dinner table, consuming one of Usagi's dubious creations. She had been taking cooking lessons from Makoto, and now her family didn't have to depend on Ikuko's leftovers. "I have a child now," was Usagi's explanation of her newfound talents. "I have to provide for my family."

The food she served was edible, at least, and they took that as a blessing. The ringing of the phone interrupted their dinner, and Usagi glanced at Mamoru with a pained look. "The hospital again?" she groaned. "We're supposed to get this night together; they had you all morning!"

"It'll just take a minute, Usako," he said, squeezing her shoulder as he passed by on the way to the phone on the stand. "If it is them, I'm not going anywhere."

As he picked up the phone, Sierra began questioning her step-mother about the ingredients of the new meal. "You make the best fish!" she said, grinning.

"Sierra-chan." The seriousness of her father's voice drew the girl's eyes; even Usagi looked at her husband in worry. "Theresa is here-- in Japan," he said in a strangled tone.

Almost choking on the sip of water she'd just taken, Usagi got to her feet. "What? Sierra-chan's mother? She can't!"

Sierra was silent, staring at her plate. Toying with her chopsticks, she mashed at the salmon she'd been enjoying just moments before. "Theresa wants to meet with Sierra-chan; to see her and make sure she's okay."

Usagi met his eyes, a wounded look in her own. "You do not call her Theresa-san, or even Theresa-chan," she said, her own voice tight now. "Do you have such feelings for this woman that you add no ending to separate yourself from her? Do not let your spirit be flown to hers on the winds because of this lapse!"

Mamoru's eyes widened, seeing his wife's reasoning. "It is not so!" he burst out. "I call her this… because she is not Japanese. Why should I give her honor when the only thing she ever wanted was the allure of an exotic man? I won't do it; she doesn't deserve the way we honor our guests!" Ending the conversation with his paranoid wife, Mamoru turned to his daughter, kneeling by her chair. "Daughter, please speak the truth. If you want to see your mother, you may. But if you do not, you don't have to."

"I want to stay with you."

It was a plaintive tone, and she raised tearing eyes to her father's face. "I've been so happy here; I don't want to go back to America. And what about Luna-san? She's supposed to teach me how to do flips!"

Usagi smiled, knowing that Mamoru's daughter felt as if she truly belonged. And who's to say that she isn't part of the family? The decision made, Mamoru headed back to the phone. "She isn't interested in seeing you," he said in stilted English.

Ignoring his ex-wife's complaints, Mamoru hung up on her. What did he care if she'd spent so much money to come to Japan? No one had asked for her to come. Rejoining his family at the table, Mamoru nodded at his wife's anger. He would address it later, after he'd eaten his fill of the simmering salmon.

&&&&

"Mamoru-san." Addressing her husband with a cold formality, Usagi settled down with her hairbrush after her shower. "How is it that Sierra-chan's mother thinks she can take away our child? Sierra-chan is ours now; the American woman gave up any ownership."

"Not all," Mamoru said on a sigh. As his wife's brush slowed through her hair, he continued nervously. "I've gotten letters, from lawyers. They claim that Theresa never gave up her parental rights, and that Sierra-chan should be allowed visits; taken to America to see her mother each month. I refused."

"And so, now she is in Japan."

"I don't know why!" he burst out, fearful of his wife's cold tone. "How can you blame me for this? I have no control over what she does!"

"She is your ex-wife," Usagi reminded him. "Surely that gives you a little power."

Mamoru lowered his eyes. "I can do nothing, only try to keep her away from Sierra-chan."

"I just hope this foreigner doesn't attempt to take Sierra-chan away. She's our daughter now. You understand, Mamoru? You brought her to me; I want to keep her."

For the moment, Usagi ignored the fact that she hadn't wanted the girl in the first place. Right now, it only mattered that Sierra had wormed her way into Usagi's heart. She would allow no one to take away the girl that she had come to love. Even if that person was her mother.

&&&&

The cat meowed, winding its way around Usagi's legs as she stood at the window, watching Mamoru outside with his daughter. "I know, kitty," she said softly. "I don't want to lose Sierra-chan either. But what can we do later, if she decides to find her mother after she's grown?"

It had been a month since Sierra's mother had tried to force her way back into the girl's life, and Usagi was glad that Sierra and Mamoru had turned the woman away without agreeing to meet with her. What could more easily tear apart their lives than the arrival of a first wife? "She holds a claim on Mamoru I don't yet have," Usagi muttered to herself, pressing her hand against the cool windowpane. "This American woman; she's given Mamoru a child, and I haven't yet."

The cat's plaintive call worked its' way into Usagi's ears, and she smiled at the feline. "All right, food," she said, heading toward her pet's food bowl. Before, Usagi hadn't thought that she would miss the presence of a cat, but after Luna had stopped living with her, she'd gotten the kitten from a neighbor. Sending a last glance at her husband, Usagi fingered the necklace she now wore constantly.

What woman would not wear her necklace of power, if in possession of one, if her family were threatened? Usagi knew that Mamoru would get angry if he realized that Usagi felt fearful of the American woman, but it was her decision. She wouldn't be defenseless if the woman attempted to steal away Sierra. It had been years since she'd fought, been in battle, but it wouldn't take much to overpower a human woman. A woman who fought for no other reason than greed, which is how Usagi saw the American. What good woman would give up her child just because of its father's race?

The scents that wafted on the breeze reminded Usagi of her first childhood. The smell of burning wood; roasting potatoes and sweet curry. A life that the people she now called family could never understand. So why were they attempting to teach Sierra about a way of life that was so dead?

Suddenly realizing that it was foolish of them to change Sierra into something that she wasn't, Usagi fingered the heart-shaped pendant around her neck. "Mama…" she whispered, thoughts focusing on Serenity. Had it been selfish, to try to ressurect the Moon kingdom using an innocent girl's ignorance?

Turning on her heel, away from the cat's bowl that had just been filled, she hurried outside, barely noticing the warm concrete of the step that led away from the house, the sharp blades of grass poking at her bare feet and legs. "Mamoru-san!" she cried, eyes wide. "It's a mistake!"

Sierra hadn't been given to them for the purpose of following in Serenity's footsteps; for making a new generation of Senshi. Sierra had been a gift because she was to bring peace to the marriage; the union of the earth and the moon that had so far been smooth. If her true self were to be smothered beneath the lessons of a time long past, then all of her work would be destroyed; they would be no harmony in the Chiba household.

So what of the secrets; of the pain? For now, all that mattered was sheltering a little girl and making sure her life was happy. Wasn't that, after all, Selene's calling?

_**The End… **_


End file.
